Recaps

The Fourth Civilization landed a large force on Eriadu satellite while a stellar flare crippled Republic communications and defenses, then Sefrans Tann drove the Republic fleet from the satellite’s orbit. Ling Liang established a temporary command center as the Republic defenders began using their conventional advantages against the isolated landing force.

• With Republic forces disorganized and unable to coordinate, the Fourth Civilization established more than a dozen landing zones while Indjori and Caladanian troops broke through the defenses.
• Ling Liang committed 2,000 captured AT-PT walkers, and the Fourth Civilization landed 130,000 soldiers and additional supplies during the two-hour stellar flare.
• After the Planetary Shield rose, Sefrans Tann pursued the Republic fleet while Wilhuff Tarkin tried to regroup it, eventually abandoning Eriadu satellite’s high orbit.
• When Republic fighters became operational, Sefrans Tann withdrew her fleet by 0.5 light-minutes and continued bombarding the satellite’s Planetary Shield.
• Ling Liang entered a temporary command center more than 500 kilometers from the Planetary Shield Generator as Republic defenders began exploiting their conventional warfare advantage.

The Republic struggled to defend Eriadu's moon as Separatist forces outflanked its troops with AT-PT walkers, while a deliberately induced hyperspace storm stranded reinforcements and severed travel through the system. The chapter ended with a Republic soldier dying after disabling a walker as Separatist troops advanced.

• Wilhuff Tarkin ordered the moon's defenders to concentrate their forces and protect the Planetary Shield generators after Separatist troops captured a town and routed three Republic units.
• Tarkin learned that a hyperspace storm had stranded ten transport fleets and could disrupt travel through the Eriadu system for up to 410 days.
• Tarkin dismissed the staff officer who suggested the storm also cut off Separatist logistics.
• Separatist AT-PT walkers battered Republic positions and destroyed several TX-130 Saber-class hover tanks.
• A Republic soldier found a rocket launcher and knocked down an AT-PT walker, but Separatist soldiers shot him as they called for an engineering team.

Ling Liang maneuvered the Fourth Civilization Army toward Eriadu satellite’s shield generators while the Republic planned new fronts and fought a Separatist counterattack on Malastare. Obi-Wan Kenobi encountered Captain Dawn, who blocked his advance with a shield.

• Ling Liang encircled Republic reinforcements on Eriadu satellite, then attacked an industrial district to distract the Republic from her true target: the Planetary Shield generators.
• The Republic Supreme Strategic Command opened a new Western Reaches front and ordered the 20th Army to attack The Givin in the Yag'Dhul system.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli sent the 212th Attack Battalion into Malastare’s underground pipelines, where Republic troops battled concealed droid forces.
• The Separatists launched simultaneous counterattacks above and below ground, led on the surface by Green Beatty and Aiden Ward, and committed fresh Fourth Legion and Fourth Civilization troops underground.
• Obi-Wan left Cody to hold the underground position and led a squad forward, where Captain Dawn—Shi Aimin—intercepted him with a shield.

Obi-Wan fought Shi Aimin on Malastare, while their forces battled across the ground. After Republic reinforcements arrived, Xiao Guanghua urged the Gran and Dagg commanders to follow the plan and keep fighting.

• Obi-Wan recognized Shi Aimin as the super-soldier who had rescued Hutt Gaddula and accused him of joining the Separatists.
• Shi Aimin used his shield and exceptional strength to injure Obi-Wan, while his soldiers pinned down the Clone Troopers.
• Obi-Wan used the Force to try to control Shi Aimin’s shield, but Shi Aimin resisted, and the two continued fighting without either gaining the upper hand.
• Two Acclamator-class assault ships and three Hunter Class Battlecruisers arrived at Malastare to reinforce the Republic forces.
• The Gran and Dagg commanders panicked, but Xiao Guanghua told them to destroy Republic artillery positions and harass supply lines rather than surrender.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli exposed Malastare’s supposed military commanders as actors working with the Separatists, after Republic forces captured them. The prisoners revealed how they had aided the Separatists, and Barriss Offee challenged their reasons for joining them.

• Galactic Republic reinforcements arrived on Malastare and attacked the Fourth Civilization Army around Pixel City.
• The Gran and Dagg Grand Commanders lured Luminara Unduli toward the supply depots, but Republic forces attacked and destroyed the ambush at the command center.
• Barriss Offee led Clone Troopers through the encirclement and captured the two Grand Commanders.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi recognized the commanders as actors, and they admitted that they had passed the Separatists Republic military information and supplied their forces.
• The Gran and Dagg prisoners said the Separatists had promised to settle their disputes, grant them economic independence, and build them a colony and industrial system.
• Barriss Offee asked why the Galactic Republic had not offered them those benefits.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli learned that Malastare's pro-Republic forces had been weakened in battle and that the Separatists might have more strength than expected. Meanwhile, Malastare's Council Representative Ainlee Tim secretly left Coruscant after deciding to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

• Gran and Dagg actors told Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luminara Unduli that Separatist commanders included Xiao Guanghua and Shi Aimin, but they did not know their location.
• The Dagg actor explained that pro-Republic factions had supplied the forces defeated near the commercial district, while armies from Modata Industrial Province and Fuel Energy Province had stayed out of the fighting.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi decided to report Malastare's military situation to the Jedi Temple, and Luminara Unduli planned to have Ainlee Tim arrested.
• Ainlee Tim left a Coruscant hotel under guard while the Galactic Senate debated military funding and the counteroffensive.
• Ainlee Tim had decided to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems after Kinyen entered the war and Francis Underwood secretly visited him.

Einle Tim fled Republic agents on Coruscant while Tang Xiao and Count Dooku discussed the Confederacy’s need for his political support. Newly promoted Jedi Knights Jing Fang and Jax Pavan began their mission to find him, but Luna Phantom’s prank delayed them.

• Einle Tim escaped the Senate’s search and headed for Coruscant’s lower levels after Republic forces sealed the routes out of the city.
• James Bond contacted Einle Tim’s guards on Level 51 and proposed that they travel to a garbage ship at Level 1002 to escape.
• Tang Xiao and Count Dooku discussed Einle Tim’s importance to the Confederacy and complained about member worlds resisting war taxes.
• Jing Fang and Jax Pavan set out to find Einle Tim, then encountered Luna Phantom and Luna Dream at the Jedi Temple.
• Luna Phantom tricked Jing Fang and Jax Pavan into running into a wall, laughing as they realized the exit had been an illusion.

James Bond and Aynor-Tim fled through Coruscant with help from Fourth Civilization agents and Gran bodyguards, reaching a garbage ship meant to carry them away. Two Jedi Knights discovered them there, and Bond and the agents opened fire as the chapter ended.

• Gran bodyguards sniped Galactic Republic Security Bureau soldiers while James Bond escorted Aynor-Tim toward Coruscant's lower levels.
• James Bond said Security Bureau allies and Aynor-Tim's contacts would keep them safe, and they passed patrols without being stopped.
• At the garbage station, James Bond confirmed they could escape aboard a garbage ship, and Aynor-Tim agreed to endure anything to leave Coruscant.
• Jedi Knights Jing Fang and his companion emerged near the ship and confronted the group.
• James Bond surrendered, then drew another pistol and fired as Fourth Civilization agents joined the attack.

Onderon representative Mina Bontri denounced the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ war taxes and industrial exploitation, prompting heated calls for peace and lower taxes in Congress. Tang Xiao reflected on how the corporate interests behind the war were alienating member planets, then watched Count Dooku as these contradictions came to a head.

• Mina Bontri accused the Fourth Group and InterGalactic Banking Clan of exploiting Onderon by forcing it to build costly Behemoth-class battlecruisers.
• San Hill defended the investments, while Glosse Shelbia argued that war bonds would be repaid and that stopping production would invite a Republic attack.
• Mina Bontri called for negotiations with the Galactic Republic, and representatives rallied around demands for peace and reduced war taxes.
• Representatives and corporate supporters clashed in the Confederate Congress as bodyguards prepared for a possible fight.
• Tang Xiao considered how corporate interest groups controlled the Confederacy’s economy and left member planets bearing the costs of a war that offered them little benefit.
• Tang Xiao’s expression grew grave as he turned his attention to Count Dooku.

Mina Bonteri proposed peace negotiations with the Galactic Republic before the Confederate Congress, while Tang Xiao opposed her and warned the Confederacy’s leaders that defeat would cost them their power and wealth. In a private meeting, Tang Xiao exposed Dooku’s plan to assassinate Bonteri and stage a terrorist attack on Coruscant, then demanded that Dooku reveal Darth Sidious’s identity.

• Mina Bonteri proposed a ceasefire and peace talks with the Galactic Republic, but Tang Xiao challenged her proposal and she failed to win his support.
• Count Dooku adjourned Congress and privately asked the Confederacy’s leaders how they viewed the peace initiative from Onderon and more than 300 planets.
• Tang Xiao warned the leaders that defeat would leave their corporations and property to be seized, and told Dooku that Darth Sidious would train the Chosen One instead of him.
• Nute Gunray and other leaders questioned Dooku about Sidious’s promises and the Confederacy’s worsening warship production, while Passel Argente agreed that Tang Xiao’s warning might be true.
• Tang Xiao revealed Dooku’s plan to assassinate Mina Bonteri and stage a terrorist attack on Coruscant, then demanded that Dooku identify Darth Sidious.

Tang Xiao confronted Count Dooku over the Separatists’ lack of assurances that the war could end in victory. Sidious rejected the demand for peace and ordered Dooku to kill Tang Xiao and the Onderon representative, leaving Dooku committed to carrying out the plan.

• Tang Xiao told Count Dooku that Separatist leaders needed to know Sidious’s identity and receive a clear promise of victory before continuing to fund the war.
• Count Dooku contacted Darth Sidious, who attacked him through the Force and ordered him to suppress the Confederacy’s anti-war voices.
• Dooku warned Sidious that corporate leaders, including the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan, were demanding assurances, and he blamed the Archangel of Death for their opposition.
• Sidious ordered Dooku to eliminate Tang Xiao and the representative of Onderon, then promised to stage a terrorist attack in Coruscant to destroy support for peace negotiations.
• Count Dooku accepted that Sidious’s decision could not be changed and resolved to proceed.

Count Dooku confronted Darth Malthael after rejecting Darth Sidious's order to kill Tang Xiao, and learned that Sidious planned to discard the Confederacy and Dooku once the war ended. Darth Malthael offered him a choice: preserve and strengthen the Confederacy while Malthael dealt with Sidious.

• Count Dooku refused to accept Darth Sidious's order and received a communicator from Tang Xiao so he could speak with Darth Malthael.
• Darth Malthael revealed that he knew of Dooku's alliance with Sidious and explained that Sidious intended to become Emperor, leaving Dooku with no lasting place in his plan.
• Darth Malthael described how Sidious planned to end the war, absorb the Separatist corporations into the Republic, and leave Dooku vulnerable to blame and assassination.
• Count Dooku asked what Darth Malthael wanted, and Malthael offered to help build the Confederacy into a lasting government in exchange for the chance to kill Sidious.

Darth Malthael urged Count Dooku to survive while the Separatist uprising weakened the Republic and Darth Sidious, arguing that both would eventually enable authoritarian rule. On Coruscant, the Republic faced a worsening financial crisis as its costly war orders continued despite its mounting deficit.

• Darth Malthael told Count Dooku that the Separatist conflict could grow into a blaze that destroyed the Republic and Sidious, and that they needed only to survive until then.
• Darth Malthael and Count Dooku discussed how freedom and democracy had become entrenched across the galaxy, while both desired a powerful authoritarian government.
• Darth Malthael explained that Sidious would sacrifice rival interest groups to gain the support of oligarchs and pursue godlike power, worsening the Republic's corruption.
• The Galactic Republic's Senate argued for days as battlefield losses drove up spending and the Republic's fiscal deficit exceeded its safety limit.
• The Republic kept ordering warships from Kuat Drive Yards and Clone Troopers from Kamino because halting production could cause the front lines and the Republic's finances to collapse further.

The chapter described how corruption and corporate control had crippled the Galactic Republic, using the failed Jabiim relief effort as an example. As the Republic ran out of money during the war, the Senate argued over the InterGalactic Banking Clan’s predatory loan terms, while Sheev Palpatine privately anticipated the Clan’s downfall.

• The Trade Federation bribed Republic officials and investigators, leaving the Jabiim planet without meaningful help during the Brain Plague.
• After the Senate’s investigation excused the Trade Federation, Otto Stratus’s revolution ignited a civil war on Jabiim.
• A year into the galactic civil war, the Republic exhausted its funds and sought a loan from the InterGalactic Banking Clan.
• Rush Clovis demanded 25% interest and looser banking regulations in exchange for lending money to the Republic.
• Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa opposed the loan and called for peace, while Ohn Free Taa argued that the Republic had to keep fighting.
• Sheev Palpatine watched the Senate dispute and privately concluded that the InterGalactic Banking Clan was due for a change.

Padmé Amidala condemned Rush Clovis and the InterGalactic Banking Clan for financing both sides of the war, ending their personal relationship in anger. Chancellor Sheev Palpatine then asked Mace Windu to have the Jedi Order secretly investigate Clovis.

• Rush Clovis told the Senate that the InterGalactic Banking Clan had loaned the Confederacy of Independent Systems 300 billion credits, prompting Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa to accuse the Clan of escalating the war.
• Sheev Palpatine recessed the inconclusive Senate meeting until the next day, and Padmé left in fury.
• Rush Clovis approached Padmé, but she rejected his attempt to explain and vowed to bring new litigation before the Senate.
• The chapter revealed that Padmé and Clovis had been involved in a secret, intermittent relationship that ended when the war began.
• Sheev Palpatine told Mace Windu that the Banking Clan was funding both sides and asked the Jedi Order to secretly investigate Rush Clovis.

Sheev Palpatine asked Master Windu to investigate Rush Clovis and arrange for Anakin Skywalker to return to protect Padmé Amidala, while concealing the Chancellor’s involvement. On Tibrin, Anakin’s forces struggled against Sola Balk and the Ithorian counterattack, and the droid army resumed operating after Fourth Civilization experts cracked the nanovirus.

• Sheev Palpatine told Master Windu that Rush Clovis was likely a Separatist and revealed that Padmé Amidala had once had a secret romance with him.
• Sheev Palpatine proposed transferring Anakin Skywalker from Tibrin to protect Padmé, but Master Windu noted that Anakin was still trapped in the fighting there.
• After Suribran Tu’s execution, the Ithorian Tibrins rebelled against the Republic and joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
• Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Roan Shryne fought to hold the Republic’s lines as Sola Balk defeated Anakin and the remaining J-1 heavy Proton Cannons forced Republic ships to withdraw.
• Ahsoka Tano and Anakin spread a nanovirus through the droid army, allowing the Clone Army to advance, but Sola Balk armed a million Ithorian Tibrins and the Fourth Civilization supplied them with weapons and vehicles.
• The Ithorian counterattack drove Anakin’s forces back, and Fourth Civilization computer experts cracked the nanovirus, restoring Tibrin’s droid army.

Anakin Skywalker led a daring raid that destroyed eight Siege Tanks and helped the Republic forces withdraw from Tibrin, which the Separatists then freed from Republic rule. In Coruscant, Padmé Amidala met Rush Clovis for dinner, though her heart remained with another man.

• Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex ordered the Clone Troopers to retreat and hide while the Ishi Tib forces advanced.
• Anakin used the Force to guide a small team on captured Vulture Vehicles through enemy lines toward the Siege Tanks.
• Anakin destroyed eight Siege Tanks, and the Clone Troopers launched a counterattack that stabilized their lines.
• Ahsoka Tano rescued Roan Shryne, and the Republic forces withdrew from Tibrin after the Nitta regained power.
• The Republic lost more than 20,000 Clone Troopers, while Tibrin gained independence under acting governor Sola Balk.
• In Coruscant, Padmé Amidala shared dinner and wine with Rush Clovis.

Padmé Amidala feigned renewed affection for Rush Clovis to persuade him to take her to Kato Neimoidia, where she suspected he was colluding with the Trade Federation. After returning home, she reported her suspicions to Master Windu.

• Padmé drew Rush Clovis into discussing the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and he revealed that he owned property on Kato Neimoidia and was pursuing a major investment.
• Padmé pretended to feel lonely and suggested they might start over if the war ended, while Clovis declared his feelings and promised they could enjoy his future wealth together.
• Padmé feigned distress over the war, prompting Clovis to invite her to Kato Neimoidia; she agreed to go the day after tomorrow.
• Padmé returned to her residence, contacted Master Windu, and reported that Clovis's invitation and access to Kato Neimoidia suggested he was conspiring with the Trade Federation.

Padmé Amidala reunited with Anakin Skywalker and brought him along while meeting Rush Clovis, her former boyfriend, under the pretense of discussing vital intelligence. As the Naboo Royal Cruiser departed, Anakin secretly used the Force to damage Clovis’s seatbelt.

• Master Windu told Padmé that Anakin would return from Tibrin to protect her.
• Anakin rushed to Padmé’s estate, and they joyfully reunited before she told him about Rush Clovis.
• Anakin agreed to meet Clovis, while Padmé warned him not to jeopardize the chance to obtain crucial intelligence.
• Padmé brought Anakin, C-3PO, and Rock-Johnson to the spaceport to meet Clovis, and Anakin used a false name.
• Clovis boarded Padmé’s Naboo Royal Cruiser with her, while Anakin piloted and secretly tore a slit in Clovis’s seatbelt with the Force.

Anakin Skywalker tried to keep Rush Clovis away from Padmé during their flight to Kato Neimoidia, where Clovis revealed the Trade Federation had borrowed 150 billion credits. After Lott Dod confronted Clovis at his palace, Padmé and Anakin suspected the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan were plotting together, but guards blocked Anakin from following her inside.

• Anakin Skywalker faked an emergency and used a broken safety belt to separate Rush Clovis from Padmé aboard the ship.
• The ship traveled to Kato Neimoidia, where Clovis said the Trade Federation had borrowed 150 billion credits for security expenses and escort fees.
• Padmé questioned Clovis about the Trade Federation’s links to the Separatists, and he argued that banks should not be held responsible for how borrowers spent their money.
• Lott Dod angrily confronted Clovis for bringing Padmé to the palace during an important meeting, while Clovis called Kato Neimoidia his property and left with him to discuss an investment.
• Padmé and Anakin suspected the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan were plotting together, but palace guards barred Anakin from entering as a servant.

Darth Sidious ordered Count Dooku to investigate the Trade Federation’s large shipyard and use the Jedi to destroy it, while Padmé uncovered the Separatists’ Endless-class Super Carrier project in Lot Dod’s palace. The chapter left Padmé exposed as a suspected spy after a droid detected her.

• Darth Sidious reprimanded Count Dooku for losing control of the InterGalactic Banking Clan and ordered him to surveil the Trade Federation’s shipyard.
• Padmé entered Lot Dod’s palace and overheard Rush Clovis, Lot Dod, and Tunbark Tula discuss the Endless-class Super Carrier and its funding.
• Tunbark Tula said the Semirians could build the shipyard, while Lot Dod and Clovis argued over the project’s lack of funds and San Hill’s proposed financing.
• A passing droid detected Padmé, and Lot Dod accused her of spying and ordered her seized.

Padmé Amidala uncovered the Separatists’ plan to build an Endless-class Super Carrier and entered Lott Dod’s palace with Rush Clovis, while Anakin Skywalker secretly joined her. After Clovis displayed his closeness with Padmé to the banquet guests, she managed to get away, leaving her and Anakin poised to seek the project’s data.

• Padmé challenged Lott Dod’s accusations, and Rush Clovis defended her while claiming his dealings with the Trade Federation were only investments.
• After Padmé and Clovis left, Lott Dod and Toonbuck Toora discussed diverting Republic funds to build the Endless-class Super Carrier and considered using Padmé to blackmail Clovis, but Toonbuck forbade harming her.
• Padmé brought her ship’s attendants into the palace and secretly told Anakin Skywalker about the supercarrier plan.
• When Clovis found Padmé and Anakin together, Padmé claimed Anakin had brought her medicine, and Anakin left without revealing himself.
• Clovis escorted Padmé around the banquet and kept his arm around her waist as Anakin watched angrily.
• Padmé told Clovis she felt unwell and wanted to walk alone, and he let her go.

Padmé infiltrated the conference room on Kato Neimoidia and copied the classified plans for the Separatists’ Endless-class Super Carrier, then deleted the project files. Anakin retrieved her storage device, but Lott Dod caught Padmé at the terminal and ordered his men to seize her.

• Padmé used Rush Clovis’s name as the terminal password and accessed its classified database.
• Padmé copied the plans and discovered that the Endless-class Super Carrier could outclass the Republic’s main warships.
• Padmé deleted the database files related to the carrier project, hoping to delay its development.
• Rush Clovis found Padmé at the terminal, and she pretended to be unwell before throwing herself into his arms.
• Anakin Skywalker arrived, retrieved Padmé’s storage device with the Force, and left after she signaled that she was acting for the Republic.
• Lott Dod rushed in, saw Padmé beside the terminal, and ordered his men to seize her.

Padmé Amidala was arrested after deleting an investment plan, while Anakin Skywalker secured a copy of the evidence and helped her escape the Trade Federation palace. Anakin left Rush Clovis behind with Lott Dod as guards pursued them toward the spaceport.

• Robots arrested Padmé after Lott Dod accused her of tampering with the mainframe, and Clovis discovered that the investment plan had been deleted.
• Anakin found that communications were jammed and the palace exits were sealed, so he gave the storage device to Rock Johnson to copy its contents.
• Anakin offered Clovis the storage device in exchange for Padmé's release, but Lott Dod refused, prompting Clovis to take him hostage.
• Clovis led Padmé, Anakin, and their team toward the spaceport, using Lott Dod to make the guards let them pass.
• Anakin shoved Clovis and Lott Dod aside, then boarded the Naboo Royal Cruiser with Padmé and left Clovis behind.

Darth Malthael learned that Rush Clovis had leaked the Endless-class Super Carrier investment plan and ordered San Hill to prepare for a split within the InterGalactic Banking Clan. The chapter ended with Malthael ordering Clovis killed after he left Kato Neimoidia.

• Nute Gunray told Darth Malthael that the Endless-class Super Carrier investment plan had leaked, and blamed Rush Clovis of the InterGalactic Banking Clan.
• San Hill explained that Clovis had handled the funding because the Clan’s reserves were depleted, and that Clovis had appeared to be a loyal Separatist.
• Darth Malthael ordered Clovis killed, but San Hill warned that his death on Kato Neimoidia could provoke the InterGalactic Banking Clan to declare war on the Trade Federation.
• Malthael ordered Gunray to strengthen defenses in the Semirres system and block Galactic Republic operations there.
• San Hill warned that human influence within the InterGalactic Banking Clan was growing, and Malthael told him to prepare to split the Clan in two.
• Malthael said Clovis was becoming a tool of Darth Sidious and ordered San Hill to kill him on Coruscant after he left Kato Neimoidia.